Indian Navy's all-women team to sail across globe

Indian Navy's all-women team is likely to set sail for journey around the world in June, Vice Admiral R. Hari Kumar said on Thursday.

Commander Abhilash Tomy, who did a solo circumnavigation of the world on a sailboat, will also be going on a solo circumnavigation by air in June or July, the Vice Admiral said.

The two events come at a time when the Navy's team is set to scale Mt. Everest, the highest peak in the world.

Vice Admiral Kumar said the six-member all-woman team, led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, is expected to take around eight months to complete the journey.

Commander Tomy is likely to take around three months to circumnavigate the earth by air.

The all-women crew will be making their circumnavigation on INSV Tarini, the sailboat recetly inducted in the Navy.

The team has already sailed INSV Mhadei to Visakhapatnam from Goa for the International Fleet Review 2016 and thereafter to Mauritius and back.

Following that, they sailed the boat on a grueling voyage to Cape Town in December 2016.

INSV Tarini is skippered by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi and crew members include Lieutenant Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lieutenant Aishwarya Boddapati, Lieutenant Patarapalli Swathi, Lieutenant Vijaya Devi and Lieutenant Payal Gupta.

--IANS

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